Progress made in copyright battle
By Zhu Linyong (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-26 05:44

Good progress has been made in movie copyright protection since a joint anti-piracy enforcement mechanism between China and the United States was set in motion in July. .

The verdict was reached yesterday at a Sino-US joint anti-piracy conference in Beijing, the second of its kind since August 30.

Zhang Xinjian, vice-director of the Market Supervision Department of Ministry of Culture, said: "The establishment of the copyright protection co-ordination mechanism is good for both American and Chinese film industries."

There has been a sharp drop in the number of pirated copies of American movie titles prior to their theatrical release in the Chinese mainland in August, September and October, according to a sample survey conducted in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) of the United States.

The sample survey was carried independently by the MPA in 40 video disc retailing outlets in the cities.

However, Mike Ellis, MPA's senior vice-president and regional director, Asia-Pacific, pointed out that "in Beijing, the results were not good, with the availability of pirated versions of identified titles actually increasing from September." He added that "there will be no quick fixes to China's serious piracy problems."

All parties attending the conference vowed to step up anti-piracy efforts for a long period of time in the future.

(China Daily 10/26/2005 page2)